Categories of Fraud (Infographic)
Cybercriminals commit fraud because of the monetary benefit it provides them with. They most especially target the financial industry and, at present, the e-commerce sector due to the monetary nature of these sectors.
These malicious individuals have also become notoriously creative at infiltrating business systems, following the increased reliance on digital platforms and surge in online transactions. Fraudsters have developed more sophisticated techniques to gain access to networks and acquire sensitive information.
Among the most common types of fraud are identity theft, phishing, and merchant fraud. In identity theft, cybercriminals assume their victims’ identities to perform illegal activities. Meanwhile, phishing is a social engineering technique that fraudsters use to trick their victims into opening a text message, email, or answering a call. And once they open the message or mail, criminals then steal their information, such as login credentials and credit card information.
Moreover, bad actors commit merchant fraud to charge stolen credit cards and acquire money or other assets. They set up merchant accounts for a business entity that appear legitimate, acquire assets, charge stolen credit cards, then disappear before the actual cardholders realize and reverse the fraudulent transactions. In this fraud type, the payment facilitator will take the hit for any loss or additional fees incurred due to chargebacks.
As people continue to rely on the internet and online transactions, cybercriminals also continue to develop tactics to circumvent networks and defraud businesses and consumers. This is why identity assurance is paramount in this digital era.
Knowledge-based authentication such as passwords is no longer enough to keep criminals at bay. Thus, business organizations must leverage modern passwordless authentication solutions that adhere to FIDO 2.0 authentication standards to boost their network’s cybersecurity. Such identity proofing systems leverage mobile and biometric technology to efficiently and securely confirm an individual’s claimed identity.
Platform users can use their biometrics to create a specific fido2 key that they can use to access their account or complete transactions. FIDO2’s cryptographic keys cannot easily be shared with other individuals and are difficult to steal. These also often require a second-factor authentication to unlock.
Here is an infographic from LoginID, which provides more details about the categories of fraud and how businesses can reduce their fraud risks.
